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Alex Israel

New Waves

May 24–August 11, 2018
Hong Kong

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Installation video

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view

Artwork © Alex Israel

Works Exhibited

Alex Israel, Wave 10, 2017–18 Acrylic on Acrystal, 24 × 24 inches (61 × 61 cm)© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave 10, 2017–18

Acrylic on Acrystal, 24 × 24 inches (61 × 61 cm)
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018 Acrylic on fiberglass, 25 × 25 inches (63.5 × 63.5 cm)© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018

Acrylic on fiberglass, 25 × 25 inches (63.5 × 63.5 cm)
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018 Acrylic on fiberglass, 49 ½ × 49 ½ inches (125.7 × 125.7 cm)© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018

Acrylic on fiberglass, 49 ½ × 49 ½ inches (125.7 × 125.7 cm)
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018 Acrylic on fiberglass, 73 × 73 inches (185.4 × 185.4 cm)© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018

Acrylic on fiberglass, 73 × 73 inches (185.4 × 185.4 cm)
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018 Acrylic on fiberglass, 73 × 73 inches (185.4 × 185.4 cm)© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018

Acrylic on fiberglass, 73 × 73 inches (185.4 × 185.4 cm)
© Alex Israel

About

I’m not really a surfer but I often think about my approach as related to surfing: I’m on a wave, and I either go with it or I don’t. In some ways, I find it interesting to let myself go with it, to see where it goes and to see how it works. Maybe that gives me the energy or the fuel to be able to carve into it, or to do tricks on it, or to change things up without fighting it.
—Alex Israel

Gagosian is pleased to present New Waves by Alex Israel, his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong.

In Israel’s work, Los Angeles is both city and symbol, reality and fantasy. Brightly colored California sunsets become cinematic backdrops, glimpses of the beach appear in portraits and vignettes, and Hollywood’s mythologies shed light on the American dream itself, embodied by celebrity culture, surfer optimism, and the pursuit of luxury and thrill.

New Waves includes multimedia works related to Israel’s first feature-length film, SPF-18 (2017), a teenage romantic comedy touching on themes of love and loss, with the beating sun and crashing waves of the LA coast giving each scene an ethereal, nostalgic quality. While shooting the film, Israel noticed pelicans silhouetted against the sky or swooping in at the edge of the frame. The closest living species to pterodactyls, these long-beaked birds signal a prehistoric time, suggesting a natural continuity at work within the world’s entertainment capital. Pelican (2017), suspended from the gallery ceiling, is a lifelike interactive sculpture of a California brown pelican. At the pull of a string hanging from the bird’s abdomen, its wings flap, its head nods, and its eyes blink rhythmically, slowing down until coming to a stop. The pelican appears again in a short animated video, to be released online on May 24, in which neon lights, newspaper headlines, and art historical references flash into view, showing Israel’s deep attunement to the intersection of media, history, and visual pleasure.

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 我算不上是衝浪運動員,但我時常覺得我的創作與衝浪息息相關:我乘浪而來,要不順勢而行,要不反之。某些時候,我認爲順勢而行很有意思,好奇它究竟能帶我走到哪,激發出什麼。也許正是這種力量使我有雕琢、把玩它的能力,甚至不費吹灰之力而改變事物。
—亞歷克斯‧伊斯雷爾(Alex Israel)

高古軒畫廊欣然呈獻亞歷克斯‧伊斯雷爾(Alex Israel)在香港的首場個展——「新浪潮」展覽。

在伊斯雷爾的作品中,洛杉磯既是城市又是意象,既是真實也是幻象。色彩鮮豔的加利福尼亞日落化作電影幕布,海灘掠影閃現在肖像與暗角作品中,荷里活的傳說照亮了美國夢,藉由名人文化、衝浪者的樂觀精神及尋求奢華刺激的角逐體現出來。

「新浪潮」將展出與伊斯雷爾第一部長篇電影《SPF-18》息息相關的多媒體作品。《SPF-18》是一部探討愛情和失去的青春浪漫喜劇,洛杉磯海岸的灼灼烈日與翻騰巨浪爲電影畫面平添一抹飄渺和懷舊的意味。拍攝《SPF-18》期間,伊斯雷爾觀察到鵜鶘翱翔於天際的剪影,時而俯衝闖入電影畫面中。鵜鶘作爲最接近翼手龍的現存物種,這種長喙鳥類意味着史前時代,暗指娛樂資本中的自然傳承。《鵜鶘》(2017年)從畫廊天花板上懸掛下來,是一件交互式雕塑作品,呈現一只栩栩如生的加利佛尼亞棕色鵜鶘。輕拉鳥腹的細繩,它即有節奏地拍打羽翼、點頭示意、眨巴眼睛,慢慢減速直至停止。鵜鶘亦將出現於月日即將上線的一條短片中,霓虹燈,新聞頭條、藝術史參閱物等相應浮入眼簾,體現出伊斯雷爾對於媒體、歷史、視覺享受相互交集的深刻理解。

《SPF-18》的主角Johnny Sanders Jr.幻想有一股動畫巨浪,召喚出海洋的崇高力量,卻將此能量想象成獨具一格的表現形式,從而模糊自然與人工景觀的界限。伊斯雷爾在《浪潮》系列作品中沿用此圖形,並融入衝浪板、潛水服等衝浪裝備的色彩及質感。潛水布料拼湊縫製在一起,然後像畫布一樣裱在畫框上從而形成波浪標誌。隨後利用玻璃纖維樹脂鑄造作品,再利用噴槍營造漸變色效果,呼應葛飾北齋的著名浮世繪作品《神奈川衝浪裡》(約 – 年)和西岸藝術家兼滑浪好手肯尼斯‧普萊斯(Ken Price)的作品。

「新浪潮」展覽同時標誌了伊斯雷爾洛杉磯服裝品牌「虛薄」的誕生,屆時畫廊大堂會有期間限定的櫃位販售各種中性化服裝。